Effort to open banking system to legal marijuana businesses stalls in U.S. House

Perlmutter’s bill to allow banks and other financial institutions to work with marijuana businesses openly hasn’t had an easy road, either.

Neither cash nor marijuana was taken, and no suspects have been arrested.

Though banking proponents have pointed at the robbery as an example why the marijuana industry needs banking, law enforcement has not said whether cash or marijuana was the object of the robbery.

The U.S. Department of Justice has said it wouldnâ t spend time prosecuting financial service companies that work with legal marijuana businesses as long as they follow strict guidelines of compliance â but stopped short of offering blanket protection against enforcement.

Failing in an effort to match the success of their Senate counterparts, House members on Tuesday watched as Republicans killed a budget amendment that would have prevented federal regulators from penalizing financial institutions that worked with legitimate marijuana businesses.